What she always did when she became frightened—run.

 * * *

 Lucky returned to the table where Razer, Shade, and Viper were sitting. He motioned for the waitress to reheat his coffee.

 “What did you say to her to send her running like a scared rabbit?” Shade asked after the waitress left.

 “Nothing,” Lucky pretended innocence, which he knew damn well didn’t fool any of the experienced men surrounding him.

 Shade wasn’t about to let him get away with it, though. “She reminds me of Lily whenever I frightened her.”

 “There’s a big difference between Lily and Willa,” Lucky said, taking a drink of his hot coffee and nearly burning his tongue off.

 Shade arched a brow, waiting for an explanation.

 “Lily was afraid of her sexual attraction to you because of her past. Willa doesn’t want to be attracted to me because she doesn’t like the type of man I am.”

 Shade gave a bark of laughter. “Lily hated me at one time. She definitely didn’t like the man I was when she stumbled into that Friday night party.”

 “Willa’s attracted, all right, both to the good and bad in you. The question is are you going to do anything about it?”

 “No.” Lucky threw some money down on the table then got to his feet, leaving the restaurant before Shade could ask more questions he didn’t want to answer, either to them or himself.

 Instead of going to his bike, he crossed the street to the police station. The older woman sitting behind the desk gave him a wink. She had overly-tanned skin that had the appearance of dried leather. She was at least sixty and was wearing a tight dress that showed she weighed maybe ninety pounds. When he had been a pastor, she had attended church regularly, her behavior always respectful. However, since he had re-joined The Last Riders, she stared at him like he was one of Willa’s cupcakes.

 “The sheriff isn’t busy; he’s in his office.”

 Lucky avoided her appraising look, briefly knocking on Knox’s door before entering to find Knox sitting behind his desk, staring at a computer screen.

 “What’s up?” Knox leaned back in his chair.

 Lucky didn’t beat around the bush. “Have you found out any information on Georgia and Lewis’s next of kin?” The only way he could help Willa was to try to get the children off her hands.

 Knox folded his hands across his stomach. “Found Lewis’s ex-wife, the younger three children’s mother. She’s in a state mental hospital. She can’t take care of herself, much less the kids. From what little her doctor told me, Lewis practically beat her to death when he found out she left him. She took off with the kids, but Lewis found her, took the kids back, and left her for dead.”

 “Why weren’t charges filed against him? The son of a bitch should have been sitting in a jail cell instead of terrorizing Willa.”

 Knox’s face was grim. “No witnesses and she refused to press charges.”

 “What about Leanne and Sissy?”

 “Georgia never told anyone who the fathers of the girls were.”

 “Fuck. No other relatives are able to take the kids?”

 “There aren’t any. The only other relative we know about is Georgia and Lewis’s half-brother, Clay Meyer, whose mother took him then disappeared years ago. She died twelve years ago in Tennessee. I’m trying to track Clay down, but it’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. I have a couple of men searching for him, but so far, they aren’t making any progress.”

 “What’s Willa supposed to do, keep them indefinitely? It would be hard for any set of parents to keep up with that many children.”

 “Maybe that’s why Lewis was trying so hard to get Willa.”

 Knox’s words struck Lucky’s temper, and his foot kicked at the chair Knox was leaning back in, nearly toppling the large man over.

 “Son of a bitch! I’ll throw your ass in one of the cells!” Knox threatened as he stood.

 “You can try.” Lucky braced himself as Knox scowled, sitting back down.

 “I’ve talked to Willa. She understands this is going to take some time. Even if I find Clay Meyer, he’s never met those kids, so why would he agree to take them? I advised her to let me find foster homes for them.”

 “I don’t have to guess what she said.”

 “She feels too guilty over killing Lewis,” Knox confirmed.

 “The bastard would have killed Rachel if she hadn’t shot him.”

 “We both know that, and Willa knows that, but she feels like she’s doing the right thing. Maybe she is. They’re better off with Willa than in foster care. It’s her decision to make; that’s for fucking sure.”

 “Offer the men you have searching more money to find the uncle. I’ll pay their fee.”

 “It’s your wallet. I’ll give them a call.” Knox reached for his phone. “You going to tell me why you want to help Willa out?”

 “She used to be a member of my church. I just want to help; that’s the only reason.”

 “Keep telling yourself that, brother, and maybe you’ll start to believe it.”

 Lucky left Knox’s office, going to his bike, while Knox was on the phone with his investigators. The other brothers were sitting on their bikes, waiting for him.

 “Find out what you wanted to know?” Viper questioned.

 “Anyone want to make a bet that it concerned Willa?” Lucky didn’t have to see Shade’s eyes behind his sunglasses to know they were mocking him.

 “Kiss my ass!” Lucky snarled, already pissed off at Knox’s laid-back attitude toward helping Willa.

 “No, thanks.”

 Lucky sat down on his bike. “Shade, one day, you’re going to push me too far. You’ve had a problem with me since I was discharged, and I’m getting fucking sick of it. Either tell me what the beef is or get the hell off my back.”

 Shade’s face, as always, was impassive unless he was with his wife. “You’re not ready to hear what I have to say. When you are, believe me, brother, I’ll let you know.”

 Lucky’s hands tightened on his handlebars as he backed his bike up. “You’re a fucking asshole. I don’t know what Lily sees in you.”

 His anger didn’t faze Shade. “Probably the same thing Willa sees in you. At least I was smart enough to catch my woman. I thought Rider was the dumb fuck in the club, but you proved me wrong.”

 Lucky roared out of the parking lot, leaving the three men behind.

 One day, he promised himself, I am going to kick Shade’s ass. The bastard would have to be drunk off his ass, and Lucky would have to leave town for a few weeks afterward to give Shade time to cool down, but it would be worth the beating Shade would give him to even the score. Some things in life were priceless, and getting one over on Shade would be one of them.

 He eyed the street Willa lived on as he passed. Getting his mind off the curvy woman would be another. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to believe Shade was right—he was a dumb fuck.